Alternatives To OpenRefine

OpenRefine which used to be part of a Google project stream has become an almost irreplaceable tool for data cleansing and transformations. This is a part of activity regarded generally as data wrangling. One can clean messy data, transform data into various normalizations/denormalizations, parse data from various websites, merge data from various sources, and reconcile with Freebase (this has now been discontinued and work continues on Wikidata). However, the tool does have its many quirks and limitations. There are quite a few tools available as alternatives, most of which stem from research then end up becoming commercial products in their own right. Unfortunately, other open source options are only left as experimental and then slowly are made unavailable for public use. A few interesting free alternatives are listed below. 

DataWrangler (commercialized into Trifacta)
Karma
Potluck
Exhibit
FusionTables
Many Eyes (discontinued)
DataCleaner

School of Data Online Resources

Alternatives To Zookeeper

Zookeeper has over the years become a basis for many open source distributed service projects. Often the important aspects to consider when choosing the right location and coordination services is to understand the right discovery architecture as well as the operational requirements. In general, the key concerns are in load balancing, monitoring, integration, dependencies during runtime, as well as availability needs. As quantity of disparate service needs grow for scalability it becomes paramount to have dynamic service registries and discovery to coordinate their changing location and deployments in order to minimize failure and interruption. In many respects, Zookeeper can be viewed as a relatively old implementation and does not provide many out of the box service discovery options compared to new alternatives. Consul, for example, goes some ways further than Zookeeper in providing certain functional features and capabilities. There are also other interesting options like Eureka, Etcd, and Serf.  The intention for many dynamic service registries is to resolve the downsides of using standard DNS for finding nodes in a highly dynamic environments. The following list provides some alternatives to Zookeeper both from perspective of general and single purpose registries and coordination.

Consul
Doozer
Etcd
Serf
Accord
OpenReplica
Eureka
SmartStack
NSQ
SkyDNS
SpotifyDNS

JavaScript Map Libraries

JavaScript ecosystem provides for an insurmountable options for mapping and for building holistic GIS applications. There is a huge array of libraries, plugins, and APIs to choose from to harness, process, and customize the visualization of data. GIS is a hot domain that is advancing at a fast pace especially as public service initiatives are unlocking key data for developers to explore and for building creative applications. Although, not fully exhaustive, the below list provides some interesting JavaScript mapping tools.

Leaflet.js
OpenLayers
MapBox
GoogleMaps
ModestMaps
PolyMaps
D3.js
DataMaps
Raphaeljs
jVectorMap
JQVMap
GeoChart
NokiaMaps
MapQuest Maps
Bing Maps
AmMap
GeoPrism
GeoExt
Mapstraction
gMaps
Kartograph
ArcGIS
ViaMichelin
Geo5
Cesium
WebGL Globe
OSMbuildings
Stately
Clickable Maps
jHere
Jump
jQueryGEO
jQuery Mapael
jQuery Birdseye
MaPlace
jMapping
GoMap
GMap3
MapEscape
GeoComplete
MapMarker
QuikMaps
CrowdMaps
AniMap
MapBuilder
Click2Map
ZeeMaps
deCarta
Cloudmade
ESRI
UMapper
ClustrMaps
ReadyMaps
TimeMap
Cartographer
Processing

A simple map making tutorial 

Watch Movies Legally For Free

Illegal sites for movies are popping up all over the place on the Web. At the same time, they are also under legal scrutiny for DMCA restrictions. Some search engines, like Google, have even taken the initiative to block such sites from search listings. ChillingEffects is an open archive initiative that works collaboratively to protect lawful online activity from legal threats and provides information on legal rights as well as responsibilities. While free access to content can sometimes be dubious, there are a few legitimate sites that provide legally free content on movies for Internet users. Such sites may have limited content or at times outdated. However, there are still other sites that do provide constantly updated streaming of content. Perhaps, with a bit of searching around there may just be a bit of something for everyone to arouse the keen curiosity. A few legal sites for free movies are listed below. Another, often overlooked, option is to visit the local public library of archived videos.

Hulu

Viewster

Crackle

Popcornflix

Snagfilms

Youtube

Vimeo

Internet Archive

TopDocumentaryFilms

FreeDocumentaries

OpenCulture

PBS Frontline

BigFiveGlories

CanIStreamIt

Outsourcing Development

Many companies look to outsourcing as a means of cost efficiencies and for rapid turnaround of work. On other occasions it is about lack of in house skills for which they need to outsource for support. Although, outsourcing may appear to increase development efficiencies in short-term, it more than reduces it in the long-term. Outsourcing is also detrimental to agile processes within a team environment. It also ordinarily reduces the scope of development work for existing permanent staff which inevitably leads to loss of morale and productivity. Although, management might see outsourcing as the way to go, for many developers it is often an unpleasant experience. Not only does outsourcing incorporate frustration with third-party communication but it also involves lower quality as well as increases risk for unexpected delays in project deliveries. Invariably, with outsourcing one is also limited to the skills and experiences of the third-party for development. On many occasions once a project is delivered, third-parties also play tricks to continue on the contracted work with continued maintenance or for more project deliveries as a form of business opportunity. While the product owner values quality assurance, the third-party outsourcing agency more than values delivery of work for which they are paid. At times, delaying work also means more income from the product owner. On other occasions delivering on buggy projects means more continued work for maintenance later down the line. All this stretches the budget constraints on an outsourced project and for the product owner. The best approach for most corporate environments looking to deliver on project is to bring in permanent developers for the entirety of the full life cycle of work. This will mean a clean execution of development work with clear deliverable as well as a chance to form an agile culture that grows internally as the project evolves over time. It also avoids wasted time for the product owner as well as for development staff. Most hands-on developers that enjoy development work will never be in favor of outsourcing or contracting work out because it reduces the scope of their work and increases risk of uncertainty. Cloud computing has also allowed for more efficiencies in development with performance and scale to meet business demands for growth. Organizations that utilize outsourcing as their core means of development budgets really need to start re-evaluating their strategy for the long-term as having internal development teams will far surpass in quality of work as well as provide for continued cost efficiencies. In the long-term, this is almost a necessity especially with the changing trends in technology and the demands of the business environment for maintaining a competitive advantage.

Go for Robotics and Internet of Things

Go is a very easy language to learn which can take a mere mortal a day at max to get started and probably less. The language is starting to take shape in a diverse application domains. It is becoming quite useful for cloud computing, and embedded as well as low-level development work. And, even an interesting replacement for shell scripting. Although, the language uses garbage collection, it does derive its roots from the C programming language, especially from looking at the backgrounds of the creators. For Python developers, it will be another useful and familiar arsenal at their disposal. Go is especially becoming useful for Robotics and Internet of Things with several interesting approaches becoming available in the community. It is even taking shape in the Semantic Linked Data space. At moment, the community is slowly starting to accept Go for a variety of application use cases through experimentation and evolution of the language. In time, we are going to witness an emergence of a new ecosystem of Go developers and a resurrection of an almost religious as well as active use for large-scale enterprise applications. 

List of Go Projects

Gobot
Cayley

Convergence of TV and Internet

Although in past TV and Internet have been treated significantly as different media source streams, it will become evident that such options have more synergies for the future. Not only does it mean more access to a wider digital customer base but also reuse of existing content and technologies. Advertising companies are already focusing on context and behavior for mobile, TV and Internet. However, sooner or later WebTV and ubiquity is going to take over where content providers will need to start treating all such media sources as one ultimate streaming option with all dependent on metadata semantics. Even such retailers as eBay and Amazon will have to look to digital TV options to enhance their already wider customer base. This will also mean more complexity of use cases but yet consolidation of technology for big data. Desktop is again going to take center stage as more people will look for access to multi-model accesses to media streaming. People want applications and platforms that work across digital divides with minimum amount of fuss on compatibility and re-engineering by the consumer. Advertising will again mean reduction in subscription costs and a higher revenue stream. Essentially, ubiquity will also take center stage as digital technology becomes a part of our very existence rather than an over visible tool constraint, an almost plug and play for everything. And, as digital electronics and software converge it will mean mass appeal for the customers due to the multi-model transparency of use. Such approaches are already in existence today through Apple and Google products. However, people also want more versatility of contextual use as well as smarter intelligence. As more people spend time with digital technology, they will also become emotionally aware of their own health and well being which means more ubiquitous technology needs in the home and office as well as the daily leisure life of an individual. If there is a publishing or retailer site on the Internet, it will only become more contextually beneficial to have a channel brand as well to broadcast the content. Aggregated outlets will have the benefit of a larger contextual semantics for streaming. Real-time needs are growing while people become more demanding as consumers with their more complex tastes and digitally connected lives. It will inevitably become a case of consolidation for meeting digital trends, harnessing cost-effectiveness from technology, and the wider consumer base.

Marco Polo

A dramatic story line in the perspective of an imprisoned Marco Polo and an interesting look at the Mongolian Empire. In an epic journey, we see a relatively quick transition that Marco Polo takes as a guest into the Mongolian way of life but also the way he develops a sort of kinship with the Kublai Khan. Perhaps, this is shown as his greatest survival strength and wisdom through foreign diplomacy and adaptation. Nonetheless, the story also shows how his own merchant trading father repeatedly undermines him through deceit, putting him into deeper difficulty. Although, the main protagonist is assumed to be Marco Polo, given the title of the series, the real off loaded drama takes place in the fighting scenes, at center stage, with the Kublai Khan. While the pace of the story is relatively slower than could be expected, there is a versatility and balance to the drama from the vantage point of the diverse characters. Hopefully, the audience will get a chance to witness the many adventures recounted of Marco Polo as vivid and visual depictions from his book.     

Rectify

An amazingly dramatic look at how innocent individuals can be conned and wrongfully imprisoned which not only effects them for life but also everyone around them. Rectify has a very interesting look at an individual's life, after release, and the way he copes with the changing world around him as well as in coming to terms with the events that circumnavigated into his wrongful imprisonment. The audience is slowly provided with chunks of information into his past while progressing each episode into the unfolding present and future events. What is also unique is the way the story is depicted from a southern american viewpoint. The story line is captivating in manner with which it carries the audience through the events but also the characterization of Daniel Holden while leaving much to the speculation of his innocence through the enfolding episodes.